“Wilder.” I grip his arms to brace myself because my knees feel weak. I know it would be way early, but I can’t help but hope.
“You want that? To have my baby?”
“Yes, so much. I want it all with you.”
“Then I’m going to give it all to you.” Tears slip down my cheeks. “Baby.”
“They’re happy tears, and I love every one of them.” I beam up at him. I feel so light and free for the first time in a very long time.
“Wilder!” We both freeze at the sound of a woman calling his name.
“Bri!” My eyes widen at hearing my grams’ voice.
“Maybe we should have knocked,” my grandpa says.
“We did!” Grams responds.
“Louder. I don’t want to hate Wilder because I see him doing something with our sweet innocent grandbaby,” he grumbles, and a giggle bubbles free from me.
“She better not be innocent anymore. We’re getting old. I want to be able to chase babies.”
“Clothes,” I whisper to Wilder.
He hops around and throws some on quickly.
“This is why we need to be here so we can get these wedding plans finalized,” the female voice from before chimes in.
“Mom, wait in the living room!” Wilder calls, and I guess she’s okay with me if she’s here to plan a wedding.
I pull on a pair of yoga pants Natalie gave me, but before I can try and head out, Wilder sweeps me off my feet into his arms and carries me out of the bedroom. He walks into the living room where Grams, Grandpa, Wilder’s mom, and Natalie are all standing.
“We’ll give you a month to plan the wedding,” Wilder declares as they all turn our way.
“But we’re getting married at the courthouse first thing,” I rush to add in. “I’m not waiting. I want to be Wilder’s wife, but we’ll do the wedding to celebrate.”
They burst into screams then congratulate us as Wilder puts me on my feet. Everyone engulfs us in hugs, and then there’s another knock at the door before it swings open.
“We have another wedding to plan?” a pregnant girl asks from the doorway, and I see a giant mountain man standing behind her. I quickly put together it’s Connor and Evie because I’ve seen them in town a few times in passing.
“Yes!” Natalie squeals, but I don’t miss the longing in her eyes before Evie and Connor come over to hug and congratulate us too.
I glance around the room, taking in that all these people are now my family. Loss brought me to Wilder, and it gave me so much more than I ever could have imagined. This family is only going to grow, spreading the love all around us.
There’s a blizzard of love still to come.
Epilogue
WILDER
Fifteen years later…
* * *
“Did you pack bug spray?” Bri asks as we come out of the general store.
“Yes, I double checked.” My wife turns to me and narrows her eyes. “Stop stressing, they’ll be fine. It’s camp, not outer space.”
“I’m just not used to being without them.” She huffs as I pull her in my arms. “Or at least not having them with family.”
“Just think of all the fun we’re going to have with an empty house for a whole week.”
She softens when I say this and looks up at me with sultry eyes. “You know, I might have bought a few things for us to enjoy since we’ll have the house all to ourselves.” Her hands slide up my chest, and I lean down to kiss her.
“Gross,” our oldest son Dean says, and I ignore him as I kiss my wife.
“Don’t embarrass us,” our daughter Jess hisses at us before poking me in the back.
“Fine,” I sigh and grin at Bri. “Later.”
She nods and bites her bottom lip, letting me know we’re on the same page.
Just then I hear the sounds of the camp bus pulling into the parking lot, and I turn to see it coming to a stop. It’s not too far away, but I release Bri and grab the kids’ bags.
“All right, slow down,” I tell them as they try to run straight for the bus without a backwards glance.
“At least they aren’t sad to leave us,” Bri says, and I want to laugh.
Our kids are great, and we have a lot of fun, but they have been looking forward to this for months. It will be their first big trip away from us, but if running in the opposite direction was an indication, they’re ready.
“I’ll go check them in with the counselors,” Bri says, and I nod as I go to the back of the bus where they’re loading luggage.
It takes a few minutes for me to hand over the bags and check that everything is labeled correctly, and by the time I’m finished, I can’t find Bri. Looking around, there’s a group of counselors in a huddle, and I see a flash of red on the other side of them. That’s the color tank top Bri is wearing, and as I walk closer, I see all the counselors are guys. My hackles rise as I come up behind them and listen to what they’re saying.